A report
issued by the National Sheriffs' Association this week
finds that there are nearly eight times as many seriously mentally ill people
in jails than in psychiatric hospitals in Texas. Only Arizona
and Nevada
have a higher prisoners-to-patients ratio.

There is no county-level data in the
study, but the results of queries to law enforcement and mental health
administrators indicate that HarrisCounty is much better off
than the state as a whole.

This would yield a ratio of 2.9 to 1, far
lower than the Texas
ratio of 7.8 to 1 and the national average of 3.2 to 1. But a local mental
health expert says 3-to-1 is still a serious concern.

"It is certainly true in HarrisCounty
that jails are a major provider of psychiatric care. This situation is a result
of the insufficiency of treatment options in the community. HarrisCounty
has seen a decrease over the past decade in the number of inpatient psychiatric
beds in both the private and public sector. Our state-funded capacity for
outpatient mental health services is inadequate for a county population of four
million," said Daryl Knox, medical
director of MHMRA's comprehensive psychiatric
emergency program.

"Funding for the expansion of
outpatient services, low income housing and more options for treating substance
abuse are a must to improve the treatment of the mentally ill in the community,
rather than in our jails," he said.